Wednesday, July 28

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24

Begin your time with God today by confessing that your heart is drawn at times to serve the “lesser gods” of money, work, achievement and the like. Ask him to help you establish an eternal perspective on all these things and invite him to be the ruler of your heart.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

If I were a Hollywood movie producer – I would make a movie about this story from the Old Testament! It’s got everything you need for a great story; a megalomaniacal king, a life threatening dilemma, spine-tingling courage, and a miraculous ending. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were Hebrew young men who were taken captive by the Babylonians along with their friend Daniel. They were “drafted” into the service of the pagan King and eventually were forced to bow down to the giant gold idol (likely of himself) that Nebuchadnezzar set up. But they refused to bow down before any god but their God – Yahweh, the God of Israel. Even when threatened with being burned alive in a furnace – still they refused. With the fire hot enough to feel on their faces, these young men said, “…the God we serve is able to save us…But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Wow! I don’t know about you – but that gives me goose bumps!

I mention that Old Testament story in the context of the Sermon on the Mount – because Jesus said, “No one can serve two Masters…” We, too, live in a world where a giant golden idol has been set up. The idol, of course, is consumerism – and we are all expected to bow down before it and behave like good consumers! We are expected to want what we see and to buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have. We are expected to believe that “storing up treasures on earth” will make us happier. We end up, of course, serving a god named “debt” or “financial pressure” or “bankruptcy.”

Jesus wants us to know there are two “gods” vying for supremacy in our hearts. One is the God who created you; the other he calls “Money” (or “Mammon” in the original language). Both can capture our hearts, drive our priorities and enlist our service – but one loves us and seeks our eternal joy and the other couldn’t care less so long as we pay the bills. Jesus wants us to know that our hearts have room for only one God – and that Money makes a lousy god.

Ask God to help you resist the cultural god of consumerism and materialism – and to listen to the God who loves you and wants to bless your life!

Brian Coffey